WJONAM

The Vikings Stadium bill only needs to pass a floor vote in the senate and get signed by the Governor for it to become a reality. The Minnesota House voted 71-60 early Thursday morning in favor of a revised stadium bill. The revised bill was constructed in a conference committee and requires the Vikings to pay $50 Million more while the state pays $50 Million less. The Vikings will now pay a total of $477 Million while the state and city of Minneapolis will combine to pay $498 Million. The Vikings agreed to the increase in payment.

The Twins optioned 3rd baseman Danny Valencia to triple-A Rochester after hitting .190 with 1 homerun and 11 RBIs this season. The Twins also designated for assignment lefthanded relief pitcher Matt Maloney. Maloney has a 8.18 ERA with a 1-0 record in 11 innings pitched. The Twins are calling up outfielder Darin Mastroianni and starting picher P.J. Walters from triple-A Rochester. Mastroianni was .346 with 11 RBIs and Walters was 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 33 1/3 innings at triple-A Rochester.

The Twins lost 6-2 to the L.A. Angels Wednesday night. Carl Pavano threw just 4 innings with 10 hits and 4 earned runs allowed to take the loss and drop to 2-3. Ervin Santana earned his first win throwing 7 1/3 innings with 6 hits and 2 earned runs allowed to get the win. Mike Trout was 3-5 with 2 RBIs for the Angels. Josh Willingham was 2-4 with a solo homerun for the Twins and Drew Butera was 2-3 for Minnesota.

The St. Cloud Rox announced the signing of 6 players to play in St. Cloud this summer. The 6 are left handed pitcher Zach Hirsch from the University of Nebraska, Academy of Holy Angels graduate pitcher Lucas Long from the University of Arizona, righthander Andrew Urban from Creighton, infielder Mark Rhine from Wake Forest, 3rd baseman Nick Tanielu from Washington State and first baseman Ty Jackson from Washington State.

The St. Cloud State baseball team downed Augustana 6-4 Wednesday afternoon in Mankato in their first game of the NSIC tournament. Logan Birr threw 6 innings with 6 hits and 3 earned runs allowed to get the win. Birr notched 11 strikeouts. Travis Cariveau was 2-5 with a run scored and 3 RBIs and Garrett Fischer was 2-4 with 2 runs scored for the Huskies.

The St. Cloud Rox will reveal their new jerseys home and away on Monday at the public event at Buffalo Wild Wings in St. Cloud at 5:30. The event is free and open the public. The Rox will also make home and away jersey available for purchase. The Rox will sell season tickets at the event as well.

The St. Cloud State baseball team will play Augustana today at noon in the first game of the NSIC tournament in Mankato. The Huskies are seeded #2 with Augustana seeded #5. If SCSU wins today they will play at 7pm Thursday night. The tournament is double elimination and will continue through Saturday. MSU-Mankato is the #1 seed and will play 6th seeded Minnesota-Duluth tonight at 7pm.

What do you get when you put together a super-soldier, a Norse god, a genius billionaire, two government assassins, and a brilliant scientist with an anger-management problem, all in the hands of Joss Whedon? You get one of the most entertaining comic-book movies ever made.

The Viking Stadium bill made more progress late Tuesday night when it passed through the Minnesota Senate floor. The senate version is different than the house in many ways. The differences between the house and senate bills need to be resolved in conference committee today or tomorrow before going before the house and senate for final approval. The major difference in the senate bill include user fees in addition to electronic pull tabs to pay for the state's portion and a $25 Million increase in financial commitment from the Vikings and a $25 Million decrease from the state.

The Twins blanked the Los Angeles Angles 5-0 Tuesday night to snap a 3-game losing streak. Scott Diamond threw 7 shutout innings with 4 hits and 1 walk allowed with 6 strikeouts to get the win. Ryan Doumit hit a 2-run homerun and Brian Dozier was 2-4 with a run scored and 1 RBI for the Twins. Dan Haren allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss for L.A.